


Clarification

by mithborien



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-17
Updated: 2006-09-17
Packaged: 2017-10-19 16:52:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/203053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithborien/pseuds/mithborien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He used to laugh and tease her and catch her when she stumbled only to steal a kiss. But now he had turned serious in an old fashioned way and she didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clarification

Flowers were strewn as far as the eye could see, their petals wilting slightly in the afternoon heat. A book of invitation samples that kept flipping itself from end to end, surreptitiously waving its gold and gilded edges at anyone who looked twice at it. Not to mention the ribbons of every type and colour thrown across the floor as if a madman had been let loose with scissors instead of an axe.

Tonks, who had long been an advocate of all things bright and colourful, was starting to get a bit sick of it and the novelty of seeing an adult Ron Weasley arguing with his mother over bouquets had already worn off.

“Of course, it will have to be an outdoor wedding,” Ron was saying. Molly had surprisingly given up the argument and retreated into the kitchen. “It’s the perfect setting.”

Hermione, in a smart move in Tonks opinion, had been content to leave the wedding plans to her groom. She had already selected her dress and was now outside, involved in a conversation with Harry, the twins and Remus on the best possible way to combine a levitation and lighting charm.

Tonks, for some unknown reason, was stuck inside at what she termed the ‘decorating’ table, being forced to give her opinion on whether pale blue or pale green would be better. Hearing Ron tell her to just feel the weave of that lace was a frightening moment that she felt she might never recover from. She had been involved in the flurry surrounding Bill and Fleur’s wedding too, however, that had been Molly causing the flurry and not her son.

“I don’t think it matters,” Ginny was saying dubiously as Tonks tuned back into the conversation.

“Of course it matters,” Ron exclaimed. “You would realise this if you were married.” He frowned and cast a dark look outside where Harry was oblivious of the conversation. “Why aren’t you married?”

Ginny snorted. “Why should I be? Tonks isn’t.”

Tonks blinked and dropping a garter she was admiring. “Huh?”

“Well, she should be as well,” Ron said. “You’ve been with Professor Lupin for what? Nearly two years now?”

“How long we’ve been together is none of your business,” she shot back. “And don’t call him Professor.”

“Why?” Ron pressed. “Does it give you bad thoughts?”

“Maybe it gives her good thoughts,” Ginny sniggered.

“I liked you two better when you were still kids,” Tonks said, tossing the garter away and pushing her self away from the table. They were still sniggering when she reached the door leading outside.

The warm air made her skin flush as she joined the group seated on the back porch. Remus jumped up when he saw her and dragged a chair out for her to sit down on.

“Have fun?” he whispered with a smile.

She glared at him but to Hermione she said, “Your groom is a nut case.”

Hermione just looked up and laughed. “I know. I was wondering when you were going to escape.”

Tonks snorted and leant back in her chair as Hermione went back to her conversation with Harry and the twins. To her credit, she already had the boys looking confused after a couple of words.

“You have a ribbon in your hair,” Remus noted and Tonks’ hands flew upwards to snatch the offending item away. It was bright blue, quite a nice blue actually if she let herself admit it but she threw it away anyway and turned back to Remus.

“It’s a war zone in there,” she said.

He laughed and nodded. “I would never have expected Ron to take so much interest in the wedding plans.”

“He’s up to something. I just know it. No one can get that excited over the different bloody ways to arrange flowers.” She looked wistfully at the glasses of lemonade that everyone else seemed to have. “Did Molly make lemonade?” she asked, leaning forward.

“Yeah, I’ll go get you a glass,” Remus offered.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get it.”

He pushed her back into her chair. “No really, you’ve had a hard day. Let me get it.”

He disappeared back inside and Tonks sat back with a sigh. The only hard part of her day had been enduring Ron’s constant questions on wedding plans whereas Remus had spent the morning at the Ministry discussing the ongoing adjustments to the werewolf legislation, not that he really ever talked about that.

The war may have been over for a year now but while everyone had lost that haunted look in their eyes, there were still problems.

People had died. No Weasley ever mentioned the name Charlie anymore and every so often you’d run into someone who you had fought beside and there was that brief moment of remembrance and horror.

Ron had been right. She and Remus had been together for two years now. They had survived not only the war but their personal problems too.

But seeing the plans for Ron and Hermione’s wedding had made her realise that just like their relationship was changing, so was Remus and hers. He had been treating her differently lately, acting like a perfect English gentleman, pulling out chairs and fetching her drinks, which would have been great except for the fact that that wasn’t the Remus she had first met. And he had never treated her like he was doing now when they had first met.

He used to laugh and tease her and catch her when she stumbled only to steal a kiss. But now he had turned serious in an old fashioned way and she didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

~

Fred and George had spiked the punch. An unsurprising turn of events but it was their second time spicing it up after Bill had instructed them to add a little extra when he proclaimed the punch didn’t have that extra zing. Tonks personally felt that half a bottle of vodka wasn’t the kind of zing they should be looking for but she drank it anyway. She didn’t even want to know what the twins put in it the second time.

Ron and Hermione had opted out of the traditional Hen’s night and Bachelor party and instead threw one huge gathering to celebrate their upcoming wedding. There was, in fact, some stripping involved but that was only because of how hot the night had gotten.

Currently, everyone was on the dance floor doing what could only be called grooving the night away. Even McGonagall was out there, a fact that Tonks had cheered loudly about when she first saw her. The only able person not joining in was Remus and he was sitting next to a passed out Mundungus at one of the tables.

“Why aren’t you out there?” she asked as she dropped down beside him, grabbing a drink of the table and draining it down. Dancing with Fred was an adventure in itself but having George join in was more that she could handle.

Remus smiled and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen loose behind her ear. “I’m not good at dancing. I’ll make a fool of myself.”

She stared pointedly at the mass of dancers of a moment then turned back to him. “And they’re not? That’s the fun part. Trust me, it would take someone even clumsier than me to make a bigger fool of themselves up there.”

Remus laughed again. “No, really, go have fun. I’ll be watching.”

“I want to have fun with you though,” she pointed out.

“Maybe on a slower song.”

Remus had once spun her around impromptu after a dinner held at Grimmauld Place just to see her smile. He used to have the music playing when she got home from work just so she could dance into his arms. She shook her head and jumped up decisively. “No,” she said and grabbed his arm. “Either you come and dance with me now or I am giving you a lap dance right here but either way there is going to be dancing.”

She saw his eyes widen and she wiggled her hips to further entice him.

“’Body menshion lap dance?” Mundungus muttered as his eyes blinked opened.

“Remus offered,” Tonks said quickly, barely able to conceal her grin as Dung shuddered and passed out again.

“Hey,” Remus protested but Tonks used that opportunity of distraction to pull Remus to his feet and stumble over to the dance floor.

“See it’s not that bad, is it?” she murmured, locking her arms around his neck.

He sighed again but his hands roamed a bit when they slid around her waist. “Fine but it is not my fault if I dance so badly that no one speaks to us again.”

“I just want us to have some fun. We never have fun anymore.”

He looked slightly nervous at that statement but he just shook his head and spun her around. “Squashed toes for both of us is not my idea of fun.”

She laughed and started to move faster to the music, coaxing Remus to move with her but the song ended far too soon and Remus escaped with the excuse of getting a drink. Before she had another chance to snare him again, the night had ended and he was waiting with her cloak. He stepped aside to let her Floo home first and while Remus was ever so attentive that night when they made love, he seemed distracted afterwards.

~

“It’s not that things are going badly because they aren’t,” Tonks said, drumming her fingers on the edge of her chair. “They’re great, fine, it’s just…”

Minerva looked up from where she was pouring a cup of tea. Her face was strained slightly and Tonks had the sneaking suspicion that Minerva was hung over from the night before.

“Something’s missing?” she offered and Tonks nodded.

“Things aren’t the same anymore. I mean, there are moments where it’s like we were when I first met him but then he treats me like I’m this gentle lady who needs everything done for her. He cooks me breakfast and opens doors and holds my cloak.” She went back to starting round at her former Professor’s office. Hogwarts hadn’t changed much since she had last been here and Minerva’s office hadn’t at all.

“Sounds like a good thing,” Minerva murmured.

“But it’s not!” Tonks snapped. “It’s frustrating because I don’t need or want to be treated like that.”

“Is this a recent thing or…”

“Yes, he never did any of that when we were first together. I mean, there was the war and we were all going through rough times but after the war ended things were great but now…” She paused. “It’s like he’s still scared,” Tonks said. “Like he thinks I’m just going to run off the next day so he has to treat me special.”

“Maybe he thought you just needed someone to hold onto during the war and now-”

“It wasn’t like that.”

Minerva held up a hand. “I’m not saying it was. But the war is over now-”

“Exactly, the war is over now,” Tonks interrupted again. “He doesn’t have to worry about me getting hurt or being stupidly noble so I don’t see-”

“Would you please let me finish?”

“Sorry,” Tonks said and ducked her head. Minerva still had that Professor voice down perfect.

“So maybe that’s why he’s scared even more now,” Minerva said and took a sip of tea. “Maybe he thought you only needed him during the war and since the war is over, he thinks you don’t need him anymore, so he’s doing everything possible not to loose you.”

“If he keeps this up he’ll loose me because I’ll kill myself out of frustration,” Tonks muttered.

“Have you talked to him about this?”

“I don’t even know that’s what’s wrong. It could be a billion other things. Maybe, he wants to break it off and is trying to let me down gently. Or he wants to get married and is acting like a gentleman to prove he would make a perfect husband.” She shuddered.

“Is that such a bad thing? A perfect husband?”

“Yes! I don’t want a perfect husband. I just want him.”

“Do you love him then?” Minerva asked bluntly.

Tonks sighed and looked up. “That’s the problem. I really do.”

“Do you love him enough to stand by him if the werewolf laws get worse?”

She shook her head. “I would stand by him whether I loved him or not. That isn’t the issue.”

“He doesn’t know that,” Minerva pointed out.

“Well, he should. I mean, it’s just, before Sirius died – I mean, before everything went bad, he was happy and he was fun. I mean, he was still quiet and sometimes you had to push to get something out of him but he was still Remus. That’s the guy I liked. That’s the guy I fell in love with. It was good then, and even during the war we were still - we were still good but now… Now everything is over and we should be having fun but… he’s different.”

“You can’t change him to be what you want him to be.”

“I’m not trying! I just want him back to what he was like before, that guy that I first liked.” Tonks leant back in her chair, cradling her cup of tea. “How was he like in school?” she asked suddenly.

“Remus? He was as much of a trouble maker as Sirius or James, although slightly more discreet.”

“See. Remus did like to have fun once.”

“But school was a long time ago,” Minerva said gently. “Remus has had a hard life.”

“He’s not having one at the moment,” Tonks replied.

“And maybe that’s proving to be harder to adjust to than you realise,” Minerva said sharply.

Tonks said nothing.

“You might have to consider the possibility that the relationship just isn’t working out,” Minerva continued.

Tonks shook her head. “That isn’t it,” she said firmly.

“That isn’t it or you don’t want it to be it? Remus is a beautiful, generous person but even he has his faults. Just as you do. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. You need to talk to him, Nymphadora.”

Tonks sighed again. “We all know how hard that is.” She took a deep breath. “What if he does want to end this? How am I supposed to start that conversation?”

“If you don’t have it, things will get even worse.”

Tonks shrugged. “Worse?” she whispered then abruptly changed her tone to something lighter. “Like your hangover you mean?”

Minerva’s face hardened into a glare. “I do not have a hangover.”

“Yeah,” Tonks laughed. “That’s why you winced just then.”

It was easier to end the conversation in laughter rather than tears, especially since Minerva hadn’t really told her anything she couldn’t have worked out for herself.

When she got home that night, after a few more heartfelt chats with Minerva, she found Remus all ready asleep in bed. It was rather late, she figured and Remus would have spent all day at the Ministry again, arguing for his basic rights.

She undressed quickly and slid into bed beside him, curling up against his back. She felt Remus shift slightly and mumble something in his sleep as he leant back against her.

If this relationship wasn’t working, she told herself. If she had only been attracted to him because they had been living in dangerous times and she had been reaching out then why did she still feel deliriously happy just to feel him sleeping next to her? Even knowing something was wrong wasn’t enough to quell that feeling.

She sighed, and felt goose bumps rise on Remus’ neck from her breath.

~

In the morning, she woke to the smell of breakfast in the air and opened her eyes to see that Remus had brought her said breakfast in bed.

“You really don’t need to do this for me,” she mumbled, still half asleep.

“I don’t mind,” he said with a smile. “Everyone deserves breakfast in bed.”

“I would rather you in bed,” she said and watched with glee as his cheeks reddened.

“Yes, well,” Remus muttered to himself. “I always heard it’s good to get some food inside you before attempting any rigorous activity.”

“I’ll bet.”

If this was his way of trying to get rid of her, she thought, then it was a really lousy way that wasn’t going to work. So with Minerva’s words still in her head she decided to try another direction. “Remus, have you ever thought about marriage?”

He froze from where he was picking his dirty clothes up off the floor. “What about it?”

She shrugged, setting the breakfast tray aside. “Just general thoughts. What with Ron and Hermione tying the knot, I just wondered.”

Remus shrugged as well. “Wondered what?”

“What you felt about it?”

He stood up straight and looked at her oddly. “Okay, I guess,” he said carefully. “Never really thought about it. Never thought I’d find anybody that would stick around…” He frowned. “Besides, the paperwork for a werewolf to get married is atrocious.”

“It is legal though?” she asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” Remus muttered. “So far.”

“What about kids?”

He cleared his throat. “Even more paperwork if you want to try for them. Werewolves aren’t the type to want a family.”

“Do you?”

“Do you?” he asked pointedly. “Why are you asking this?”

“Like I said, I just wondered.”

“You said that. Wondered why?”

She noticed the tone of his voice was getting harsher. “Why are you getting defensive?”

“Why are you interrogating me?”

She sighed, glanced at the still warm breakfast waiting for her then turned back to him. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”

Remus paused, then slipped on his cloak and while he wasn’t looking at her asked, “Do you want to get married?” he asked carefully.

“No,” she said. “I don’t know.”

His shoulders relaxed underneath the folds of his cloak. “Then we have nothing to discuss really, do we? I have to go back to the Ministry again.”

“I figured,” she said and some of her disappointment must have been apparent.

“Trust me,” he said reassuringly. “I would much rather be here with you.” He walked over and leant down to kiss her on her head. “I’ll be back later tonight.”

“Mmm,” she said and reached up to drag his head down for a deeper kiss. “You better be.”

He smiled at her before leaving the room.

~

Diagon Alley was crowded again, a sight much welcomed considering how deserted it had been during the war. Some shops were still boarded up, Tonks noticed as she strolled down the street. Florean Fortescue’s for one. The man had been too well liked for anyone to even think about taking over his shop. It felt too much like intruding on someone’s private space.

“Tonks!” a voice called out and she turned to see Ginny waving at her enthusiastically, Harry smiling beside her.

People still occasionally traded glances at the The-Boy-Who-Lived but the awe had died down considerably since Harry was yet to do another miraculous act since ending the war.

“What are you doing here?” Ginny asked.

Tonks shrugged. “Just looking around, just wanted to get out of the house on my day off work. What are you two doing?”

Ginny shrugged. “Just out like you?”

“Doing nothing?”

“Pretty much,” Ginny replied and smiled.

“Must be nice,” Tonks said then had to muffle a laugh when she saw Harry roll his eyes.

“Join us for lunch?” Ginny offered.

“Sure,” Tonks said and when Ginny moved ahead slightly to choose a place to eat, Tonks whispered to Harry, “So what are you really doing here?”

He shook his head bemusedly. “I’m not quite sure. I think it was something to do with her hair.”

“You don’t mind?”

He smiled. “No, I just like being with her.” He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky which was free of clouds. “Plus, I just like being outside. It’s peaceful here.”

“Yeah,” Tonks said, sighing. “So it is.”

“So what were you really doing here?” Harry asked, with a surprising amount of insight.

Tonks looked ahead to where Ginny was arguing with the owner of a restaurant about whether there were any free tables before turning back to Harry. “Just trying to pass the time until Remus gets home, I guess.”

She started to fiddle with the small box deep in her coat pocket.

~

Remus came home late, an act for which he was apologising for even before he finished closing the door behind him. But he stopped dead when he saw Tonks waiting for him. She was wearing a short, pale pink dress, significantly simpler than any other clothes she owned. Her feet were bare and her hair brown and loose around her shoulders.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, looking down to where he hands were fiddling with something, “and we need to talk.”

Remus frowned. “I thought we talked this morning?”

“Well, maybe I hadn’t finished. This relationship isn’t working, Remus. No, wait,” she said as his mouth opened to argue. “You know it. Our relationship has changed and either I know why and I’m going to fix it or I don’t know why and there’s simply nothing I can do to save it.”

“Once upon a time,” Remus said as he shed his cloak and started to walk towards her, “you would never have given up like that.”

“Once upon a time, things were different. And I’m not giving up,” she said firmly. “At least not yet.”

“Listen,” Remus said desperately. “Nothing is wrong.”

“No,” Tonks interrupted. “Something is wrong because for the past couple of months you’ve been acting like I can’t do anything for myself. Like I’m this fragile lady that needs doors opened and food presented on a silver platter. And it’s driving me crazy.”

“I’m not treating you any different-”

“Yes, you are and it needs to stop. Start treating me like me again. Like Tonks! Who only goes by her last name and has pink hair and trips over things and can seriously kick your arse and you know you would enjoy it. And the thing is I can’t understand why you would suddenly treat me different. Why you would feel like you needed to. One thing that I thought of is think of is that you wanted to get married and you wanted to show me what a perfect husband you could be.”

Remus screwed up his face in response before he could help it.

“Yeah, exactly,” Tonks agreed. “Those were pretty much my thoughts, as well and our conversation earlier pretty much confirmed that.”

“Look it’s not that I wouldn’t want to with you-” Remus started.

“Shut up. It doesn’t matter. I’m not ready for that either.” She bit her lip. “So then I thought that you were breaking up with me… but from the look on your face right now I know that isn’t it either.”

Remus was a little too slow to duck his head and Tonks saw the despondent and a little panicked look that had briefly appeared.

“So the only other reason I could think of,” she continued quietly, “is that you’re afraid to loose me.”

Remus’ face didn’t change at all this time.

“And that’s it, isn’t it?” she said when he didn’t reply. “You’re afraid I’m going to leave you.”

“Listen, it’s not…” Remus trailed off, refusing to look at her. “It’s just…”

“No, shut it. I am tired of you acting like this. From now on, this is how it’s going to be.” She walked forward but stumbled on the edge of a rug and tumbled to her knees. Remus automatically leant down to help her but she shook his hands away.

“No, it’s okay. I should be on my knees anyway.” She saw his eyes widen ever slow slightly and his lips quirk upwards.

“See,” she continued, poking him in the stomach viciously. “That is what I am talking about. The Remus I used to know would have made that joke. He would have said something stupid like well while you’re down there and probably would have added Nymphadora in there as well just to annoy me. But now you’re scared to even joke like that and I just… I just want things the way they were.”

“And you need to be on your knees to do that?”

“Yes,” Tonks said fiercely. “Well, maybe not but don’t freak out. I’m not proposing marriage here or anything. Maybe in the future, I don’t know. I just…” She fumbled with the box again and managed to snap it open to reveal two rings nestled in velvet. They were copper coloured and made from multiple strands twisted together to form the bands. She looked up and smiled slightly.

“I thought about getting silver as a joke,” she said. “But I figured this should be serious.” She plucked one of the rings out and pulled Remus’ unresisting left hand forward. “This…” she started. “This isn’t anything, okay? It’s just something to show that I am serious about this. I’m not going to bugger off in the next week because I saw something pretty. I figure some sort of superficial object might help you remember that instead of me telling you all the time.”

She slipped the ring onto his middle finger and pulled him down to his knees as well.

“I promise you that you’re not going to loose me. Not like this.” She dragged his head forward and kissed him. “I love you and I’ve never said that to anyone before and meant it as much as I do now. I didn’t let go of you during the war. I’m certainly not going to let go of you now.”

She took a deep breath. “Now, what do you have to say to that?”

He looked dumbfounded down at the metal wrapped around his finger. “Oh, can I speak now?”

“Remus!”

“Sorry, I just. I don’t think anybody has ever said anything like that to me before.”

She smiled slightly. “I figured.”

He looked down at his hand again but she tugged his face back upwards.

“Look, hopefully I’ve read this situation right. I remember what you were like when I first met you and that’s the man I want back. I don’t want you to change or anything. I just want you back.”

He picked up her hand and turned it over so he could run his fingers over her palm. “Look, you know I’m not good at the relationship stuff.”

“I’ll say.”

“Nymphadora!”

She laughed. “That is below the belt.”

“I thought you wanted me to play there,” he said and immediately cringed. “Oh god, did I just say that?”

She laughed even harder. “Now that is what I want to hear. Sirius used to tell me all sorts of stories about the dirty jokes you used to tell in school so you can’t deny that one.”

He smiled. “He would have, wouldn’t he?”

“You’re avoiding the subject at hand,” she pointed out gently.

“I’m good at that, aren’t I?”

“Remus, just tell me what you’re thinking.”

He sighed and reached down to pluck the remaining ring out of its box. He held it up to the light, admiring the metal.

“I haven’t been talking about the discussions at the Ministry for a reason. The new laws and restrictions they’re trying to get in place are horrendous and I…”

“Just tell me,” she coaxed.

“You wouldn’t really remember what it was like after the first war ended but I practically lost everything and I couldn’t do a thing about it. This time around, I survived without loosing the people that I loved except…” He shook his head. “One year later and the threat of loosing people is still there.”

“You’re not going to lose me,” she said. “I think I made that obvious.”

He smiled. “I know, it’s just…”

“You’re scared?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“And you panicked in the most moronic way possible.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Well, excuse me, I can’t-”

She pulled his head forward and kissed him again before he could finish and she felt him relax under her fingers. “I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered.

He smiled again and sighed, then picked up her hand and slid the ring onto it. “I love you,” he said, looking up into her eyes. “I really do, no matter how I’ve been acting and I just… I don’t want to lose you. And I promise-”

She placed her hand against his mouth. “You don’t need to promise me eternity, if that’s what you’re thinking, just promise me you.”

“You’re not going to let me get away, are you?”

“Not yet.” She smiled and slid her hands around his neck to daw him close to hug him. He returned the embrace tightly until she heard him sniff.

“What is that smell?”

Tonks cringed. “I didn’t think it was that noticeable. I kinda screwed up the Scourgify spell on the dress. It was supposed to be white.”

He laughed. “White?”

“Shut up.”

“How did you manage pink? I mean, it’s fitting but how on earth?”

“Oh, forget it,” she said and tried to push him away but he grabbed her waist again and pulled her back. He opened his mouth then paused.

“What?” she asked smiling. “What were you going to say? I thought we specified that I wasn’t going to run away so no more perfect husband please.”

He blushed then said quite carefully with his eyes closed, “I was going say: well in that case, we should take it off.”

She laughed and started to lean backwards, pulling him down with her. “Oh, should we?”

Remus opened his eyes and smiled. “Yes, we should,” he said as his hands slid up her hips.

~

The wedding was held a week later and most surprisingly, went off without a hitch, which wasn’t that surprising given that Tonks had seen Hermione give Fred and George a stern talking to. If that girl ever decided to actively work against them, Tonks thought, the boys wouldn’t stand a chance.

Having the wedding outside was, in fact, a good decision and Hermione’s wedding dress was beautifully outlined in the setting rays of the sun. Everyone cheered when they said their vows and then retired to the dance floor in a slightly more dignified version of what happened at their pre-wedding party.

She found Remus at the edge of the dance floor, tapping his foot along to the music and holding a champagne filled glass in one hand.

“I feel old,” he said thoughtfully, when she approached. “I look at them and I feel old. I look at you and I feel old.”

“Don’t,” she replied simply. “Age is stupid. Act younger.”

He smiled. “Okay.”

“Okay? That’s it?”

“Yes.”

She grinned. “That’s good to hear.” She paused. “Aren’t you going to offer to get me a drink?”

“No. Are you trying to test me or something?”

“No. I’m just thirsty. Can I have yours?”

“No.”

“Don’t you want to get me drunk so you can get into my pants?” she said, pressing up against him.

“No,” Remus said, completely ignoring her. “I don’t need to get you drunk to get into your pants. You routinely offer them to me regardless.”

She laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist. “So can I take all is an indication that I won’t have to do any over the top romantic gestures any time soon?”

He smiled down at her. “I guess you could say that.”

“That’s good,” she said, giving him a squeeze. “Well, I am going to get myself a drink.”

“When you come back,” he called out after her. “I want the next dance.”

She grinned as she walked away.

Ron was standing at the drinks table when Tonks grabbed a glass. “Tired already?” she said. “I’d hate to be Hermione on your wedding night then.”

He glared at her. “Hermione is dancing with Harry, thank you very much. And I am not tired.”

“Whatever you say, mate,” she said and grinned.

“Hey, this is my wedding day,” he protested. “You’re not supposed to be mean to the groom.”

“You’re an exception. Seeing you single handily plan a wedding has scarred me for life,” Tonks pointed out.

“Oh.” Ron laughed. “Right. Although,” he said thoughtfully. “Me and Hermione had that all planned out ages ago.”

“What?”

He shrugged. “You remember how Mum interfered with Bill and Fleur. Even now, she still interferes. I figured, if Mum thought I could handle everything before the wedding then I should be able to handle everything afterwards.”

“So all that was just for show? I knew it,” she said, shaking her head.

“Pretty much.”

“I have to say, it was pretty damn convincing.”

He smiled. “I don’t know whether that was a compliment or an insult.”

“Both. So… did you and Hermione actually want to get married or was all your discussion on the sanctity of marriage just another act.”

Ron shrugged again. “I couldn’t care less whether we got married or not. I just wanted to be with her. Although, getting married has been kinda fun and then there’s the honeymoon.” He frowned for a moment. “Were you actually thinking of getting married? With Remus? I mean, all that teasing before, I didn’t mean-”

“No, don’t worry. You didn’t do anything. Remus and I aren’t ready for marriage anyway. We just like being with each other for the moment.” She looked back to where Remus was waiting for her and smiled again.

“There’s a ring on your finger,” he said suspiciously.

Her smile grew even wider. “Wrong finger. Besides, there’s a ring on your finger, did it change how you feel about Hermione?”

Ron grinned. “Not one little bit but it did clarify some things.”


End file.
